Florida doctor offers $50,000 reward to find wife's killer

MANATEE, Fla. — Dr. James Briles unleashed the anger he feels against whomever took the life of his wife Kathleen, as his family and two crime fighting groups offered $50,000 for information that leads to the capture of her killer.

Dr. Briles, a well-known Palmetto physician, on Aug. 3 found his wife bound and beaten to death in the living room of their Terra Ceia home, the doctor said at a news conference.

He pleaded for anyone with information on the crime to come forward, and blasted whoever did it as "evil and subhuman."

"This was a despicable act perpetrated by the most cowardly of cowards on a totally innocent woman," Briles said.

The doctor described finding his wife when he returned to his Bayshore Drive home about 8 p.m. that Monday. Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detectives believe she was killed sometime that afternoon.